Saturday, April 30, 2016

A guide to the historical novels at BEA 2016

Here’s my 7th annual guide to the historical novels at BEA. This is a work in progress, pieced together from BEA’s autographing schedules, Publishers Weekly’s adult “galleys to grab” guide, posted schedules from publishers, Twitter, etc. I've added booth numbers, book descriptions, release dates, etc. It will be updated periodically up until I leave for Chicago on May 10th, so if you plan to print it out, I suggest waiting until just before the show.

Additions and corrections are welcome. Leave a comment below or tweet me @readingthepast.
Last updated: Fri 5/6, including some giveaway times mentioned in Library Journal's galley guide. New entries since the original posting date are marked with ~new~.

~Galleys to Grab~

Algonquin (Workman) - booth 1829

Caroline Leavitt, Cruel Beautiful World - novel of sisterhood, family, and responsibility in the late 1960s. Oct.
Susan Rivers, The Second Mrs. Hockaday - love, the desperation of wartime, and a mysterious crime, set during the Civil War. Jan 2017.

Joan London, The Golden Age - a convalescent hospital in Perth, Australia, is the scene for healing, love, and dislocation in the postwar era, from a well-known Australian novelist. Aug.

Hachette - booths 1716, 1717

Emma Donoghue, The Wonder - a mysterious child who claims to live without sustenance in 1850s rural Ireland may be a fraud. Little Brown, Sept.~new~ Emma Flint, Little Deaths - psychological thriller set in '60s NYC. Giveaway Wed 5/11, 1pm, also Thurs 5/12, 10am.
Robert Hicks, The Orphan Mother - the story of Mariah Reddick, former slave of the heroine from The Widow of the South. Giveaway: Wed 5/11, 1pm. Grand Central, Sept.~new~ Affinity Konar, Mischling - see below under signings. Giveaway Thurs 5/12, 9am.

HarperCollins - booths 2140, 2141

Jessie Burton, The Muse - the Spanish Civil War and 1960s London intertwine in a tale of art and mystery. Ecco, July. Giveaway Fri 5/13, 10am.~new~ Paulette Jiles, News of the World - a former soldier returns a Kiowa captive back to her people. Morrow, Oct. Giveaway Wed 5/11, 1:30pm.
Helen Sedgwick, The Comet Seekers - the past, present, and future of two lovers in modern Antarctica; literary, centuries-spanning epic. Harper, Oct. Giveaway 5/11, 1:30pm.

Jonathan Rabb, Among the Living - a Jewish refugee's life in postwar Savannah. Oct.

Penguin Random House - booths 2433, 2441

Jennifer Chiaverini, Fates and Traitors - a novel of John Wilkes Booth, as seen from four women’s perspectives. Dutton, Sept.
Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow - in 1922, a Russian aristocrat endures house arrest in a hotel across from the Kremlin. Viking, Sept. See also under signings.

Marie Benedict, The Other Einstein - the little-known story of Mileva Maric Einstein, a physicist in her own right. Oct. Giveaway Fri 5/13, 9am.
Cuyler Overholt, A Deadly Affection - historical mystery set in early 20th-c NYC. Sept. Giveaway Wed 5/11, 1pm.
Greer MacAllister, Girl in Disguise - Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective, and her adventurous life during the Civil War years. Mar. 2017. Giveaway Fri 5/13, 1pm.

~new~ 3pm, Booth 1729-1829 (Workman)
Larry Watson, As Good As Gone - one of the last cowboys, an elderly man at odds with the world in the '60s West.

Thu May 12

10 - 10:30am, booth 2433 (Penguin Random House)
Graham Moore, The Last Days of Night - historical thriller about the battle between Edison and Westinghouse to electrify America, from the author of The Sherlockian. RH, Sept.

2-2:45pm, Booth 1204-1205 (Grove Atlantic)
Andrea Molesini, Not All Bastards Are From Vienna - a family in a northern Italian village has their villa requisitioned by enemy troops during WWI. Grove, Feb.

I haven't been to a ticketed signing before (they're for big-name celebrities) but this is what I found on the BEA site:

"The ticketed authors are celebrity/high profile authors in the Autographing Area who require a ticket for admittance. The tickets are handed out two ways, either through the Avid Reader Pass Program OR by visiting the Autographing Kiosk to receive a complimentary ticket. Tickets will be distributed from 11:00 am – 3:00 pm on Wednesday, May 11 and from 8:00 am – 12:00 pm on Thursday, May 12 and Friday, May 13. Tickets are limited and are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets will be distributed each morning for the day’s events (no advance tickets)."